Exploring teen well-being and social media use during the pandemic summer of 2020

Abstract

Social media has become a ubiquitous activity for teens in the United States with most going online daily. Legitimate concerns about teen well-being and mental health have often pointed to social media as a negative influence, yet prior research finds that social media use for teens is complex and multifaceted. This study first explores the concept of well-being, and its connection to social media use prior and during the Covid-19 pandemic. We then turn to our survey, conducted early in the pandemic, when we asked over 4,000 teenagers about their well-being and social media use. Eighty-six percent of these teens reported moderate to high well-being. We find that teens who used social media to interact with friends and engage in activities sharing their authentic selves were more likely to report higher well-being than those that engaged in more performative activities such as making content, sending links, or gaming.

Keywords

• Teenagers
• social media
• well-being
• COVID-19